


a praise chorus

by 1000_directions



Category: One Direction (Band)
Genre: Family, Football, Gen, Lad and dad, Sausage rolls
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-07-01
Updated: 2017-07-01
Packaged: 2018-11-22 01:29:15
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,311
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11369730
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/1000_directions/pseuds/1000_directions
Summary: “I don’t want... I don’t want him growing up thinking that he... has to,” Louis says, struggling to put words to the feeling in his head. “Like, not just because I... was who I was. He doesn’t have to do it like I did it. He can just be himself and love it however he wants to love it. It doesn’t have to mean anything.”Louis enlists Uncle Nialler's help when Freddie develops a talent for music.





	a praise chorus

**Author's Note:**

  * For [outwardbound93](https://archiveofourown.org/users/outwardbound93/gifts).



> #where's all the fic of niall teaching freddie guitar y'all

For a while, it really did look like football was going to stick. Freddie doesn’t have the best coordination, but he tries hard, and he runs the drills without complaining, and his smile when he gets a goal is identical to Louis’ own, his mouth so big and expressive that it forces his eyes shut. It’s their lad and dad bonding activity, footie practice every Sunday morning before it gets too hot, and then the two of them head off to Pinkberry, which Briana’s got them hooked on. And Freddie tells Louis what he did yesterday and what he’s doing tomorrow, and they talk about cartoons and teachers and which foods they both don’t like to eat, and Louis drinks it all in. His kid -- his  _kid_  -- is growing up right before his eyes. He was just born, it feels like, but now he’s six, and where did the time go? And also, if he was just born, if he’s still so new, why can’t Louis really remember what his life was like before?

Freddie goes along with the football because he’s sweet and agreeable and he likes to spend time with his dad, and Louis holds onto that as long as he can, because he can see that it’s coming to an end, that Freddie is developing his own interests and becoming his own person. He reads more at six than Louis does at thirty, and he likes nature and bugs and animals in a way that Louis never did at that age. He likes playing outside, but he’s not much for sport, preferring to explore the edges of the yard, making up stories about the pirates or the monsters or the aliens beyond its borders. His imagination is awesome, and he’s definitely a genius, and he’s Louis’ favourite person to talk to. But he’s not going to be a footie star, and that does sting a little bit.

*

Briana’s cousin Ashley is moving to London to get married, so they all head overseas for a two week holiday. Briana is helping with arrangements and going to the wedding, and Louis and Freddie are going to Donny for two weeks, for two entire weeks with all of his family together in the same place, two weeks of his sisters and brother and Dan and Freddie and him all together in his hometown, two weeks of uninterrupted lad and dad time, and Louis feels so satisfied and fulfilled and whole and complete that he might burst from it. This is all he’s ever wanted.

“He’s starting to get musical, I think,” Briana tells him on the flight over. She has the aisle seat, Louis is at the window, and Freddie is sat between them. He doesn’t fly very often or very well, and he’d insisted on sitting between his two favourite people for the journey, and then he’d fallen asleep as soon as the plane took off.

“Musical how?”

“Mom and Brett took the boys to a music store a few days ago because Austin needed a kazoo for a school project, and Freddie walked right up to a xylophone that was on display and started playing it.”

“How does he know how to play a xylophone?”

“I have literally no idea. But they bought it for him, of course.”

“Of course.”

“When we get back, you have to take it. He never stops, and it’s not good for Mom’s migraines, not that she’ll ever admit it.”

“Of course I’ll take it,” Louis says, and is mind is going a million billion miles an hour. Freddie as a musician. He’d never considered that possibility this young, and now he can’t think about anything else. “Is he any good?”

“Of course he’s good,” Briana says softly. “And he loves it. I think we should talk about some kind of music lessons for him.”

“I don’t want... I don’t want him growing up thinking that he... has to,” Louis says, struggling to put words to the feeling in his head. “Like, not just because I... was who I was. He doesn’t have to do it like I did it. He can just be himself and love it however he wants to love it. It doesn’t have to mean anything.”

“I know,” Briana says. “It’s just something for fun, and we both have to remind each other of that. He only has to do it as long as it’s something he enjoys. We can’t pressure him. It has to be his choice. But right now, he really loves it, and he’s asking about drums and guitar, too.”

“No drums,” they say in unison, and then they both smile.

“Guitar, though,” Louis says. “I don’t know if he’s got the strength yet, but at least he’s got long fingers. That might work.”

Louis thinks about it for a bit longer, and then Freddie wakes up, and they spend the rest of the flight colouring pictures to his very exact specifications. He’s an odd, serious child, but Louis loves him with his whole heart.

*

Home is the strangest combination of familiar and foreign, and it does his head in. Lottie and Fizzy are around for the weekend, even though they both have their own lives in London. His two oldest baby sisters are adult women now, even though he can still picture each of them at Freddie’s age so clearly. Daisy and Phoebs were the babies when Louis last lived at home, and now they’re the eldest, helping to manage the household and look after the baby twins who aren’t babies at all anymore. Everything changes, but everything stays the same a little bit. They all look so much like his mum that it makes his heart sting, but they also have her kindness and her sharp wit and her unbridled cackling laughter.

All of his blood is together under one roof, and it’s overwhelming. Louis takes so many pictures of his siblings and Freddie together that he has to upgrade his iCloud storage to accommodate it all. Most of them he keeps private, but he posts a handful to Instagram: Freddie and the youngest twins all in matching One Direction pyjamas that Lottie had custom-made for them, Freddie eating his first ever sausage roll, Freddie sitting at the piano bench with his head bowed and his little fingers stretched over the keys with his feet dangling far above the ground, Dan holding Freddie with a picture of Jay just barely visible behind them.

 _Didnt know ya were in Donny !_  is the text he receives from Niall late that night.

 _Brianas at a wedding in london so i have the lad,_ Louis texts back, adding the sunglasses emoji.  _Whatre you up to then_

 _NOTHIN !_ is Niall’s near-instant reply.  _Bored out my mind in London ! I could come be a lad too if ya dont mind the company !_

_I havent missed your face at all but Freddie could use some uncle Nialler time_

_Ha ha cheers Tommo_

_Were talking about getting him guitar lessons,_  Louis tells him after a brief internal debate.  _Hes a musical genius like his dad . Maybe you could get him started_

Niall sends back a string of thumbs up emojis, and they make plans for him to come up at the weekend. Something about it makes him anxious, including Niall in this. Louis can play a bit of this and a bit of that, but he’s never really been a musician the way that Niall is. Music is supposed to be Louis’ world, and it’s sobering to think that maybe he isn’t the best one to introduce Freddie to it, like maybe Freddie will learn too quickly and outpace Louis at the one thing he’s actually supposed to be good at.

But Niall will help, and he won’t step on any toes. It’s been ages since they last hung out, and it should be nice to see him. And Freddie does need some time with his Uncle Nialler. Lots of bits of Louis’ old life have fallen away, become inaccessible and unreachable. It’s important for Freddie to experience the parts that are still left.  _This is who I was before you. I like who I am better now, but I was someone else once, and I want you to understand my legacy and what I built, even if most of it is gone now._

*

Just like everything else about being back home, Niall is the same and not the same. His hair is darker than ever, but with a little silvery dusting at his temples that he doesn’t seem inclined to cover up. He’s got some new squarish glasses that Louis has never seen before, and they look expensive and distinguished, but they change the shape of his face subtly in a way that is disorienting. But Niall’s presence is the same, how he just grows to fill up any room that he’s in. He still laughs loudly and easily and for too long, and the sound settles comfortably behind Louis’ ribs. His hug is ferocious and possessive, and Louis’ eyes close on their own as he loses himself in all these pieces that feel like a different kind of homecoming.

“Good to see you, lad,” Louis mumbles into Niall’s neck. They’ve been hugging for too long, and he doesn’t care. It’s Nialler. His best, best cheerleader.

Louis is finally about to release his grip when he hears a squeal and that sudden crushing pressure that tells him Freddie’s barreled into them and got them both ‘round the legs. Hugging is the only contact sport that Freddie is any good at.

“Oh, you’re crushing me! Arms of steel!” Niall is crowing, and Freddie giggles and squeezes tighter before letting them go.

“Hiya, Uncle Nialler,” he says, extending his hand politely, and Louis has to stop himself from rolling his eyes, because sometimes he wonders who even is this odd alien child with his face but almost none of his mannerisms.

“Pleased to see you, Freddie lad,” Niall says, solemnly shaking Freddie’s hand, and Louis can’t help the grin that steals over his face. His two favourite nutters. God help him, but he loves them both to the ends of the earth.

*

They have sausage rolls for lunch, because Freddie refuses to eat anything else. Louis knows he’ll hear it from Briana, but it’s worth it for now.

“Brought a present for you, Freddie,” Niall says when they’ve finished eating, and Freddie’s eyes go wide.

“What is it? Can I have it now?”

“Course you can. Let’s go find it.”

Freddie races down the hall while Niall and Louis trail after him.

“You didn’t have to get him anything,” Louis says.

“I hardly ever see the lad, so when I do, I’ll spoil him as much as I want,” Niall says with a shrug. “Looks like he’s found it.”

The case is tiny, but it’s still probably taller than Freddie is. It’s one of them proper hard cases, so it should be okay to take on the plane and place in the overhead, and Louis notes with relief that it’s a Yamaha. Not too expensive, then. Louis doesn’t know what he’d do if Niall had bought his six-year-old son a Gibson or a Taylor or some other thousand dollar instrument on a whim.

“Is it for me?” Freddie asks.

“Too small for me, lad,” Niall says. “Must be yours. You should open it up and make sure, though.”

Freddie fumbles with the complicated latches, so Niall helps him out. They open up the case, and nestled in the blue velvet is a half-sized blonde acoustic guitar with a shiny black pickguard and nylon strings that Niall must have strung himself.

“Is it for me?” Freddie asks again. “Is it really for me?”

“It’s for you,” Niall says.

“What do you say to Niall?” Louis manages to get out. It’s too much. It’s too nice of a gift, not the cost of it but the intention behind it. It’s Freddie’s first guitar, and all three of them will likely remember this moment for the rest of their lives. And a small, selfish part of Louis wishes it had been him giving the gift, and at the same time, he’s so glad that it’s Niall. He’s so grateful that Niall will always be a part of this memory that he already knows he’s going to cherish.

“Thank you, Uncle Nialler!” Freddie shrieks. “Dad! Dad, look what I got!”

“I know, love,” Louis says. “Maybe he’ll give you a lesson if you ask very nice.”

“ _Please_ ,” Freddie says. “Please, please, please give me a lesson.”

“Reckon that’s the first time any Tomlinson has ever begged for more schooling,” Louis says. “You’d better help him out, Niall.”

“You too, Dad,” Freddie says. “Let’s all have school together.”

And that’s how the three of them end up sitting on the floor together, a guitar across every lap. Louis idly tunes his and draws patterns in the sparse dust atop the body while Freddie and Niall have a very serious discussion about the commitment that guitar requires.

“It’ll hurt your fingers like mad at first,” Niall says. “You have to put time in now to be good later. It’s frustrating as anything.”

“And it’s okay if you change your mind,” Louis reminds him. “You don’t have to keep doing it if you don’t want to do it.”

“That’s right,” Niall says. “Only if you like it.”

“I want to learn,” Freddie says, determined as anything. He presses his fingers down hard onto the strings so that his little fingernails turn white, and he strums a clumsy E minor. He really doesn’t have the strength yet, and his fingers aren’t quite long enough to hold down the right strings without muting the wrong ones, so it mostly sounds like nothing. But to Louis, it also sounds a little bit like everything.

**Author's Note:**

> [tumblr post](http://1000-directions.tumblr.com/post/162482344319/wheres-all-the-fic-of-niall-teaching-freddie)


End file.
